


There's Beauty and There's Danger Here

by Fericita



Series: When All Is Lost [39]
Category: Frozen (Disney Movies), Frozen 2 - Fandom
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, blame the trolls, first day of the separation of sisters, first day post Anna's accident, seriously Pabbie WTH, the parents tried their best
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-01
Updated: 2020-02-01
Packaged: 2021-02-28 04:54:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,067
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22508119
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fericita/pseuds/Fericita
Summary: This takes place the first day after Anna’s injury and the visit to the trolls. It is the first day of the sisters’ separation. As always thanks to @the-spastic-fantastic, this one especially owes a lot to her!
Relationships: Agnarr & Iduna (Disney), Agnarr/Iduna (Disney)
Series: When All Is Lost [39]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1571230
Comments: 12
Kudos: 26





	There's Beauty and There's Danger Here

Iduna stroked her daughter’s hair, learning the feel of this new streak of white which was somehow coarser than the rest of her red locks. Once again, she felt at her wrist for a pulse.

Anna’s heart beat was steady.

Iduna’s was not.

Her heart had not calmed down since the terrible moment when she had seen Anna lying on the ground, Elsa nearby and panicking. Their ride to the Valley of the Living Rock, Pabbie’s healing and pronouncement and his order to keep magic a secret from Anna. Iduna still felt as terrified now as she had during those horrible moments, clutching her daughter while standing amid the trolls, the crushing sensation that nothing would ever be the same again.

She closed her eyes and saw the scene Pabbie had cast into the air. Elsa, tall and queenly with ice floating from her fingertips. A vision of beauty quickly turning to danger as she was ripped apart by a teeming mass of anger and fear.

Iduna shuddered.

Agnarr had believed this warning at once. He was already telling various castle servants that their new duties would be at the academy in town or on the outlying farms owned by the crown and not inside the castle gates. He had ordered Elsa’s bed moved into a different room, her clothes and toys as well. He saw a threat and made a plan. Iduna couldn’t think beyond making sure Anna would open her eyes. The flurry of activity concerned her only in that she hoped it would wake Anna.

It had not.

Pabbie had asked if Elsa was born with the powers or cursed and Agnarr had quickly said born. But the longer that Iduna sat next to the too-still Anna, the more this felt like a curse. What else could it be if it meant Anna’s injury and Elsa’s death? If it meant her daughters would be separated from one another? How could they be a whole family if they were forever fragmented into pieces, fractals never joining, frozen in isolation?

It seemed impossible that she had once thought Elsa’s powers were meant to free Northuldra from the mist, to bring peace between the people of her birth and the people she had learned to live with and love. Was this a curse she brought to Arendelle? Was this punishment for her people starting a battle and murdering a king?

Anna mumbled something and rolled onto her side. Iduna tensed, leaning over Anna to see if her eyelids fluttered or if she made any other signs of consciousness. It had now been eight hours since she had clutched her baby to her chest and ridden hard for the Valley. Another two hours past when Anna usually bounded out of bed, brushing sleep from her eyes with impatient hands, ready to explore and laugh and climb and tug on her sister’s hand, begging her to “Do the magic!”

Iduna felt tears collect in her eyes and run down her cheeks. She turned her head to wipe her face on her shoulder, not wanting to let go of Anna’s hand and Anna’s hair.

***

“Elsa, I know you didn’t mean to hurt her. I know. We are not angry with you.” Agnarr knelt in front of Elsa in her new room, both of them exhausted, both of them unwilling to rest until they knew Anna was awake and recovered.

“But the troll leader said I have to learn to control it. That means I’m not controlling it now.” She leaned her head into his shoulder.

Then, in a whisper, “I hurt her.”

Elsa was wringing her hands, as if she could stop the magic from coming out of them by worrying it away.

Agnarr covered her tiny hands with his. “We can learn to control it, together. Your mother and I will not let anything bad happen to you. Or Anna.”

Elsa hugged him around his neck as snow started to gently fall around them.

It was one of the last times Elsa initiated touch. Agnarr would think about that moment later and wish he had held her longer.

***

“Mama?” Anna’s voice was coarse, like she had swallowed sand. Iduna leaned over her, relief making her feel lightheaded.

“Yes, sweetheart I’m here,” Iduna said, trying to keep her fear out of her voice. She kissed Anna’s cheek and squeezed her hands.

Anna eyelids fluttered as she slowly asked, “What happened?”

“Does your head hurt? You had quite a fall. We were worried.” She reached under Anna’s arms to lift her into a sitting position, eager to get her to drink some water.

Anna opened her eyes and touched the place on her head where the strands had changed to white. “Elsa was there. Is she alright? Where is she?”

“Elsa’s with Kai. She has a new bedroom and they are arranging her furniture. We wanted you to have quiet while you recovered.”

“But I want to play with her. I want her in here with me.”

“Sweetheart, you need to be still and quiet today. I know that will be difficult, but it’s important for your head to have some time to heal.” Iduna hugged Anna to her, and wondered how they could keep Anna and Elsa apart when Anna’s waking request had been for her sister.

***

“Judet, thank you for coming in.”

Agnarr had been calling in the staff all day and sending most of them to different jobs outside of the castle. Judet had been the girls’ night nanny, a job mainly requiring her to put the girls to bed when Iduna and Agnarr were attending evening meetings, state dinners, and other various royal duties. He hoped this would be one of the easier staff changes to make since Judet’s work at the castle had always been minimal. Agnarr hoped she would see a change in her position as a logical decision, not such a shock or an insult like it had been for so many of their beloved servants.

Judet curtsied upon entering. “You’re welcome, Your Majesty. Though I will tell you I know what’s about to happen. Twenty people before me have been called in and all have left with new placements.”

“Yes, that’s true. We – “ Agnarr tried to guide her towards a seat, but she closed the door and made no move to sit. Instead, she clasped her hands and shook her head, bowing it respectfully.

“Begging your pardon, Your Majesty, but you need me here in the castle. “

“What did you say?” With the events of the last day and a half- Anna’s injury, the trolls’ dire prophecies, the tears of his loyal servants, and no sleep in all that time - Agnarr was out of patience. His tone was angrier than he meant for it to sound.

“I know what the design on your coat means!” She whispered, urgently. “And I know what Elsa can do. And if what she can do is becoming a problem, I might be able to help you.”

Agnarr dropped into the chair meant for Judet, not wanting to admit the truth of what she said. What did she mean? How could she know?

Judet waited for him to look up at her before she continued “I’m Northuldra. And that pattern is about powerful elemental magic. That’s what Elsa can do, right? Are you sending the staff away so no one will know?”

Agnarr had never felt less like a king. Or a good father. Someone had already discovered their secret, the one that would mean Elsa’s death if not controlled. And he could not think of anything else to say, any orders to give, any plans to make.

“What . . .what do you want?” He asked hoarsely. Judet looked stunned for a moment and then raised her hands, a gesture of goodwill.

“Nothing, Your Majesty,” she said softly. “Nothing other than to help.” She paused. “I really think I can help.”

He rubbed his eyes again, sleepiness making his thoughts slow. Could she change the course of what Pabbie showed was a curse? He took a moment to collect himself and then looked at Judet. “Stay here,” he said quietly, contritely. “I’ll get Iduna”

***

Gerda had come in with a tray of breakfast food, shushing Anna any time she talked and demanding silence. “Rest is what you need and you can’t get that chattering.“

Her strict adherence to silence and rest was tolerated by Anna only because Gerda also kept handing her sweets to eat, and patting her on different parts of her arm, murmuring how relieved she was that Anna had woken up.

Gerda again urged Iduna from the room. “Your Majesty, please. You need to sleep. You look nearly as tired as you did during the Rock Pox. And remember how you fared then? Go have a lie down. Princess Anna is safe with me.”

Iduna found herself staring at the love-in-a-mist bloom that Gerda had placed on the tray, its white petals beautiful, snow-like. Iduna grew them for spice in the garden, planted in the same rows as the strawberries that were used for depressive illnesses. Planted together, they grew well, the colors of each making the row even more beautiful than either left on its own. The spice and the sweet, the white and the red. She had thought before how that row in the garden was like her two daughters. Now she looked at the lone love-in-a-mist on the tray and thought how sad it looked, how lonely.

Gerda cleared her throat and took a more commanding tone. “Your Majesty. Go lie down. I will stay here and make sure the Princess has everything she needs.”

Iduna nodded gratefully, kissed Anna and left, trying to calculate how long it had been since she had slept. Her hand was on the doorknob to her room when Agnarr called out from the opposite end of the hallway.

“Iduna. Please come. There’s…I need you.”

***

“You’re Northuldra? How…how did you get here?” Iduna didn’t want to say anything about the mist or the forest closing. Judet had always seemed kind and truthful, but this was a big secret to keep. Let her explain where the Northuldra people were and why she couldn’t get to them. It seemed impossible she could really know. How could she have kept it a secret for so long?

Iduna immediately felt a wave of shame; this was a secret she had been keeping from everyone except Agnarr for almost twenty years. She could not fault Judet for staying silent.

Judet took a deep breath before she began, eyes downcast as she gripped her hands tightly together. “My brother and I were on a trading route, selling furs to the towns along the coast. It was about eighteen years ago. We tried to get home, but there was a mist, near the stones. We were shut out. We didn’t know why, but on our next trip to Arendelle, we heard about what you call the Northern Expedition. My brother, Dure, he asked around and learned that only you survived, Your Majesty.” She bowed her head towards Agnarr. “And he also learned what some of the townspeople were saying about the Northuldra. What some of them were doing.”

Iduna nodded grimly, acknowledging the truth of that. She would never forget the body in the woods, the boasts of the men who put it there.

“We traveled some more, trapped and traded, kept trying to get back in . . .but we never could. We were here again to trade during your coronation, Your Majesty, and that’s when I saw the symbols on your coat.”

Iduna raised a hand to Agnarr’s lapel, tracing the pattern. He had set it into his uniform for her, to show her she was a part of him, part of their rule together.

“It’s the elements. Wind, earth, fire, water. I know it well. It’s a pattern of one of the oldest Northuldra families, any Northuldra would know it. And when I saw it I wanted to find out why you had it. Maybe it was just a copy of a pattern you liked, maybe it was something you stole.”

Judet looked at Iduna, her eyebrows raised, perhaps in fear. “And then I heard you sing that song to Elsa and I knew. You’re Northuldra too.”

“Why didn’t you say anything then? Why didn’t you tell me?” Iduna felt slow, like she should be able to piece together questions, but that her hands were too clumsy to do it. Sleepiness was weighing her down. Her exhaustion felt like the mist, impenetrable and hard to see through.

“Begging your pardon, Your Majesty, but it seemed unwise. And when I saw what Elsa could do, and how you wanted that quiet, I kept my thoughts to myself. “

Iduna had an apology on her tongue, but couldn’t quite say it. What was she sorry for exactly? For lying? For making Judet feel she had to lie? Hadn’t she herself been lying more than half her life?

“I don’t know what happened last night, but I know Elsa’s powers have been growing. And I think it has something to do with the elements. With Ahtohallan.”

“Ahtohallan. The river of memory.” Iduna whispered it, a name she hadn’t heard since lullabies were sung to her as a child. “That’s what my lullaby is about.”

“Yes, and remember? Ahtohallan is the source of all magic. Ahtohallan would know where Elsa’s powers come from and why she was born with them. That could be where she controls it, learns how to use it. A gift of magic like that is very rare, but it has happened before. That’s why we have the songs. To tell us where to go and what to do.”

Agnarr placed his hands on the table and leaned forward. “Where is it? How do we get there?”

Judet shook her head. “I don’t know. Just what the song says – where the north wind meets the sea. My brother might know more, we could send for him. He travels up and down the coast this time of year.”

“We’ll send soldiers to find him. In plain clothes. We’ll bring him back and ask him what he knows. Then we can search for Ahtohallan. We can find out why Elsa has this power and how we can keep her safe.” He turned to Iduna, a fierceness burning in his eyes. “We will keep her safe.”

***

“It’s my fault, Agnarr.”

They were finally in bed, and though it had been nearly two days since they had last slept, both felt unable to submit to their exhaustion. To quiet their churning thoughts enough to welcome the release of sleep. They lay facing each other, and at her words, Iduna leaned her head to bury it into Agnarr’s chest.

He put an arm around her to draw her closer and run his hand up and down her back, trying to calm her sobs .

“Sunny,” he murmured. “This is not your fault. This was no one’s fault. It was an accident.”

“But it has something to do with Northuldra. It has something to do with the magic my people could use. I brought that here.” Her words were hard to hear; she was choking them out in whispers, gasping them in the midst of tears. It was like she was being swallowed by a wave of grief, the pounding surf carrying her whispered words away. “And Revna, that was my fault too.”

“No.” Agnarr froze, his hand halfway down her back, the name Revna recalling loss and pain and worry in a visceral way. He immediately felt the terror he had felt the day she was born, when he thought Iduan was lost to him. The day Revna had been born already gone.

“You heard Midwife Jora then. That was not your fault. Sometimes it happens, and no one can control it.”

“But the way she was – the heat, the burning – it has something to do with my people. “ She took a deep breath and drew her face back from his chest to look at him. “I have brought a curse to you. I am marked by magic and our children are too.”

Agnarr put a hand on her cheek. “Iduna, marked by magic or not, you are my wife, my family. I love you. We don’t know why this is happening. It might have to do with Northuldra, and this Ahtohallan place. But it might not. There are other places with magic and stories of magic. We will search everywhere for answers and we will save our daughters.”

Iduna pulled back and put her face in her hands, unable to accept his kindness. Her exhaustion was giving reign to her long-suspected fear that if she had done things differently, her family might be safe now. “If I had told you the truth from the start it would have been better. If I had left Arendelle all those years ago, I would have saved you this pain. Maybe this is payment for my lies.”

Agnarr took her hands away from her face, trying to stop the tide of tears that had begun again, searching for her eyes so she would know the truth of what he was about to say. “Sunny, I love you. I can’t imagine the loneliness of life without you, without this family we have made. You have no fault here. We will solve this, together. For our family. For Anna. And for Elsa.”

He leaned in to kiss her, brushing his fingertips gently along her jaw and Iduna responded, half lost in the familiar taste and shape of his mouth. The warm familiarity of his body as he gently covered her like a shield. They came together needing to feel the solid presence of each other, steadiness in this world of magic that had suddenly become so unpredictable and capricious. To remember that regardless of what came next, they were one. To affirm that there was no curse here, only blessing in this coming together that made lovers out of friends, family out of the lonely.

And when they finally slept, entwined, and their worries came back in the form of half-fragmented dreams of what might happen and memories of what had, they curled tightly against each other, trying to shut it all out and seek the only protection they had known in their adult lives.


End file.
